Facing Struggles
by Bandgeekwriter89
Summary: Sequel to Boy are we Screwed. Kate finds out something that changes her life forever.
1. Chapter 1 Original

A/N: WELCOME!

It has been in the family, but everyone has died before they showed the symptoms. One of them being Kate's mom. She'd been killed before anyone ever knew she'd end up getting sick anyways. When the couple first found out what was going on with Kate, they were devastated. Having a death sentence put on Kate, albeit long, was not something they had ever expected.

Castle was there when they both saw the signs. The kids all had been at school, and Kate was taking in a last cup of coffee before heading into the precinct for a few hours. Her hand shook so badly that she dropped the cup, hot coffee spilled everywhere and left a pretty bad burn on her hand. If it weren't for the burn, Kate would have pushed it off and ignored it a little longer.

The ER is packed when they arrive but since Kate had a pretty bad burn on her hand they take her in ASAP and get her all cleaned up and wrapped. They take her blood next and send her up for a CT. When she had told them why she had burned her hand and that a few other random times she had just started to pull up in her mind that she had these movements before, the doctors wanted to examine her further.

When the results do come back, it's clear that that's what Kate has. She's got the genetic markers, and her CT scan is clear that she has it. It's devastating news but with it being diagnosed early they can start her on some medication to help a little. There's no cure for this but medication can help lessen the symptoms a bit.

"I can't believe this Castle."

"I know me either. You are strong. I know you can handle this."

They know they need to tell the family and the kids sooner or later but are not sure how. This was all so new for the couple they needed a few days to let it sink in.

A few days have passed, and the couple is sitting in the living room with Alexis, Jim, and Martha sitting on the other couch across from them. The kids are off to school already which made it a little easier for Kate and Castle to tell the two adults across from them. They will tell the kids but figured having help from them would make it easier.

"I'm just going to say it." Kate sighs.

"I've been diagnosed with Huntington's disease."

"You what?!"

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Martha says, coming over and giving Kate a hug. She knows this must be hard for the couple.

"Oh, my Katie." Jim gasps, getting up and going to hold Kate. He feels bad because he'd wished he would have known this was in the family and that he could have helped her sooner.

"I'm so sorry baby; I wish I could make you better." He sighs holding her close.

They go over information and all the details, telling the three all the info they know and what will happen to Kate. She's going to start with the shakes, and then at some point she won't be able to walk, and during that, behavioral issues. It's going to be a tough road, but Castle knows it will be ok. Alexis is shocked to hear that Kate has 20 years left and wants to make it the best time she's ever had.

The kids get home from school, and the parents sit down with them trying to figure out how to tell them. The Older Lets are now 10, and the little Lets had just turned 5. The first thought was that Kate was having another baby. Castle quickly shot that one down sad that he had to do so. Just seeing their sad faces broke him inside.

They tell the kids what's going on, and they have plenty of questions. Some, Kate is not ready to answer, and some, Kate can't answer. This is hard for them, and Kate is worried it will take a toll on the kids. That their whole lives will be turned upside down. Kate tells them though that if they have any questions they can go to any one of the adults.

Knowing it's a lot to take in, Kate puts on a movie and lets the kids snuggle with her for a while. She knows they've got to be worried and wants to ease them with a movie. Rook comes over first and climbs on his mother, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry mommy." Rook sighs, burying his face into her chest. He can't hug her, but that's his way of doing it. She understands him and puts her arms around him.

"It's ok little guy; I've got this." She smiles and kisses his head.

A few days go by, and Kate is slowly getting worse. They've told the school, their close friends, and now are trying to figure out how to tell the public. Kate will get to work as long as she can, but they have backup in place just in case something happens. They want to tell the public and set them straight before it hits the news magazines, and they screw up all the details and then no one knows what's true anymore. They know things will get skewed anyways but the more info they tell themselves, the less hopefully it won't happen.

Putting into his news connections one of the major news stations picks him up and they plan on a major short story for the nightly news. This is hard for them, but they know they have to do it anyways. They are setting up for the interview two days later; the kids are with the grandparents so that they can do this without any hassle.

Standing up at the mic with one arm around Kate to hold her unsteady body he begins to speak. He tells them what's going on and that at this time he would like some privacy so they can finish figuring out a plan of action. He knows by bringing this out his family who is now already in the limelight will be more in the limelight. They have adjusted though, and sometimes Castle likes to poke fun at them.

By the end of the interview, Kate can barely stand on her feet, so Castle has them pull her wheelchair up off stage and he carries her to it. He knows in the future she will have a power chair when she can no longer walk, but for now, she has a simple chair that can just get her around places if she knows she's going to be tired that day.

It's becoming more and more of a struggle now. Things Kate used to be able to do on her own, she can no longer do or had major issues doing. For example, just brushing her teeth has become hard to do as her hands shake when she's trying to brush them. She makes a joke out of it, though, that she does not need a power toothbrush because her hand does all the work for her.

The kids are off to school, and it's now Kate's turn for a trip to her physical therapist. She's no ready because she knows that every time she comes home she's so sore. She wishes it were not like this, but it's what she's been given.

Arm around her, he takes her purse and slowly helps her to the car. It takes them longer, but he knows she's hurting and wants to be careful. Driving to the office, Castle gets out and then helps Kate out. They go sign in and are called back moments later. Castle helps her to the floor and Jane, their therapist starts with Kate's legs. That's mainly why they come so that Kate can keep the strength up in her legs as long as possible. They know though that soon enough, Kate will be in a wheelchair and still coming to work on her legs.

By the time they are done, Kate is in tears as the pain has become too much to handle. Castle gives her a pain pill and then helps her out to the car so they can head home. The ride home is usually in silence because Kate is too sore to say anything and Castle just wants Kate to have her time. He knows it will be a long road to adjustment, but they are slowly working on it.

Helping her into the house, he puts her on the couch for a nap, and he can go write. Kissing her, he smiles as she dozes off. He knows she's tired so he just lets her be. He wants her to get as much rest as possible. That will help keep her strength up.

She wakes up about an hour or so later just as the kids come in from school. Trying to sit up she groans softly as Brock looks up to see her struggle. He runs over and helps his mom up. She thanks him and gives him a kiss before he leaves. Moments later, Rook runs in with his bag over his shoulder and plops next to his mom. He's got a simple worksheet to do and wants her to help. As a present for his second birthday, the family was able to get him a prosthetic arm. It does not do much, but as he gets older, they can work with him to make it do more things. It's good though because right now he's learning to write. He can write his name. It's a little sloppy, but it's his name.

"Are you writing your name?" Kate smiles watching him as he puts the pad of paper on his lap.

"Daddy showed me how." He smiles as Tanner comes running in with his worksheet.

"Are you writing yours too Tanner?" She again as he sits on the floor.

"Uh-huh." He nods, scribbling with his left hand. Out of all the Castle family, Tanner is the only left-hander in the family. It was not an issue and quite honestly, Kate and Castle told him that he was special and not to worry about kids making fun of him.

"Where's Edgar?"

"Uh, don't know," Rook says not even looking up from his paper. They had been instructed to write their name three times and then try to write at least three people's names in their family. Tanner found this easy. His name had been rather easy to write with the double letters in the middle and also found it easy to write Rook's name as it too had the double letters. His only issue was trying to write Edgar's name. He had trouble writing his D's and the G's, but they had been working it. A little later, Edgar finally comes into the room with his worksheet. He's having Issues and Kate can't get on the floor to help him.

"Hold on Edgar, I'll get daddy." She says shifting.

"Castle!" Kate calls, her feet mindlessly tapping on the floor as she waits for him.

He comes out, and Kate explains to him what's going on, and he sits down on the floor with the two boys. Helping them, they work on writing their names for school and are doing pretty good. The older kids had been at the dining table working on their homework but seemed to have it down. Despite her still not talking, Kinley was doing pretty well in school. The family had been worried that she would not do well, but she listens a lot which helps.

Homework is finished soon after, and Castle lets the kids watch some TV while he goes into the kitchen to start on dinner. He'd made a batch of lasagna the other night for meal prep, and now all he had to do was to cook it. He cooks it and helps the family to dinner before putting them to bed and helping Kate to bed. She's exhausted by the time we make it to bed, and it does not take her long to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 1 Rewrite

A/N: So, I'm going to make this short. I had the Idea for Kate to have Huntington's and had the story line playing out in my head. I wanted to write it but after some thought and feedback from you guys I decided to change things up a bit. There is one piece that I wanted to continue with, so I'm going with that but taking away the Huntington's. I just ultimately felt that a lot of my faithful readers would not read it because of the ultimate death (Which I knew would be hard to write). Don't worry though. The kids will stay. FYI I am not a doctor, and most of my medical information is from online research.

She's been shot. That's all he hears and what's been replaying in his head the whole trip to the hospital. He can't believe what he hears. It's not every day that someone calls you to tell you that your wife has been shot.

As he reaches the hospital, Castle jumps out of the cop car and runs into the doors of the ER. He's greeted by a nurse who comes to his side asking him what he needed. He tells her that his wife has been shot, and he needs to know where she is and what's going on.

She first tells him that she's going to do anything she can to find info on Kate. She walks with him to the nurses station, and they look her up. Her name comes up, but it tells them she's still en route. The nurse is confused though because they should have been here by now. Moments later they get a call that the ambulance she was in had been T-boned and was delayed. They had called in more ambulances, but it would still take time for them to get there.

—

A few hours later, Kate's out of surgery had a CT scan, and an X-ray. They've done a few other tests and now are waiting for the results. They got the bullet, but it was close to her spinal cord that they feared she'd become a paraplegic. They wouldn't know until Kate was awake and they could do some tests with her reflexes and what not.

Sitting by his wife's bed, he waits for her to wake up from the anesthesia. He knows she will be in some pain, but he's going to stick by her side, and do whatever she needs to help her feel better.

When she does wake up about an hour later, he is quick to be as close as possible.

"Kate, hi." Castle smiles as Kate grumbles to have the breathing tube taken out.

"Calm down ok? I'm getting a nurse; they will take it out." Castle says as he gives her a kiss and heads for the door. Her head is jerking back and forth, ready to have the tube out. It's obvious when he brings the nurse back that Kate can't move anything from under her boobs down. With her head jerking like that you would think or assume that the rest of her body would move as well.

"Katherine, please. I'm going to take the tube out, but you have to be still." The nurse sighs as she reaches for the tube to pull it out. Castle is holding her hand as she takes it out.

Letting out a huge deep breath, Kate is thankful that the tube is out, and she can breathe fully. She smiles as she gazes up at Castle. The nurse is gone by now, and Castle holds his wife's hand carefully.

"What happened?" Kate asks, her voice raspy as its still dry from the tube. Castle knows he needs to tell her, but he's not ready.

"You were shot; I'm not sure you remember that, but then the ambulance you were in got T-boned," Castle explains, helping Kate to some water. She's thankful it's cold because it feels so good going down her throat.

"I remember being shot, I just wish I would have seen him." She sighs softly.

"Espo told me there was nothing you did wrong; he came out of nowhere so, please don't bring yourself down." Castle tries to reassure Kate.

She sighs again as she closes her eyes. She's still pretty exhausted and ready for a nap. She wants to stay awake because she knows they will want to do some tests when she's awake. It's hard to do, but she does it anyways.

They start the tests by essentially playing with her feet trying to see if they can get them to move. They don't, and it kills Kate to know that she won't be able to walk anymore. She is thankful though that she is still alive. If that bullet had landed somewhere else, she could have been dead. Leaving Castle to care for the six kids. Not something she ever wants to do.

Finally done with the tests, Castle lets Kate take a nap while he steps out and talks to the doctor. He wants to know her prognosis and see where they will go from here. The doctor explains that yes, Kate is indeed paralyzed and will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. They don't know yet how much of her body is paralyzed, but they will know more when they can get her to sit up in a chair. They wanted to do it now, but Castle insisted that they allow Kate to get some rest.

—

A few hours later, Jim and Martha show up to visit and see how Kate is doing. Surprisingly Kate's doing well and Martha and Jim were not freaking out too much. That's what worried Castle.

Helping Kate up, Castle lifts her and into a chair just like the doctor had wanted. He can tell she can sit up unassisted. Which is great. The results have come back, and Kate has been paralyzed at the C5 vertebrae. She's basically got movement from her boobs up, except for her left hand. It's started to freeze and is now in a fist. She can move her arm and her wrist just not her fingers. Which she's becoming ok with. She's got her right hand, and she does most things with that hand anyways.

Relaxing in her chair, the four adults chat for a while before they leave and relieve Alexis of her babysitting duties so she can come and see her dad and step-mom. She was going to bring her husband Aaron with her, but he was so engrossed in helping the older Lets with their homework that he decides to stay and hang with them. The couple had just married a year ago and according to Alexis, had been trying for kids. She loved her siblings but really wanted some kids of her own.

Aaron had been great with the kids. Being a high school math teacher made it fun because the kids loved having help from him. He was good at math, and his students loved him because he was easy to learn from and made it fun to learn math from. Not one of those teachers that is so boring you fall asleep in their class.

Making it to Kate's room, Alexis knocks on the door. Kate is still happily sitting up when they invite Alexis in. They are thankful for some young blood in the room and the updates on the kids.

"Wheres Aaron?" Castle asks shifting in his chair as he smiles at his daughter.

"I left him with the kids, he was having so much fun helping with homework so, I told him to stay." She smiles softly standing in the doorway. They talk for a little bit, go over answers to questions Alexis has before she comes up with news.

"I know this is pretty much about you, but I wanted to brighten your day with some news." She smiles again.

"Oh really, shoot." Castle smiles chuckling softly.

"Aaron and I wanted to tell you together, but I asked him and he told me I could tell you myself."

"I'm pregnant!" She beams happily bouncing in front of her parents.

"Oh Castle, we get to be grandparents!" Kate smiles excitedly clapping her hands the best she can.

"Oh, this is great!" Castle says happily as he jumps up to hug his daughter. Having had a pretty crappy day, the news of his daughter pregnant made up for a lot of the day. Not all of it, but a decent amount of his day.

Leaving Alexis, he goes and sits back down. He knows Kate will want to sit in the bed soon, but he's waiting for her to ask him for help back to the bed.

"Help please," Kate says reaching her arms out for help from Castle. He gets up and walks over to Kate and picks her up. He carries her across the room and then to the bed. She sets her down and helps pull the blankets up over her legs to keep them warm. She thanks him and gives him a kiss before he steps away.

—

Alexis leaves a little while later leaving Kate and Castle alone. Their next step is to bring in someone from the physical therapy department that will help them pick out a wheelchair for Kate. They want to go with what Kate wants but also what will work for her. They decide on a power chair that tilts and has a joystick that's easy enough for Kate to use. They have a few models in the therapy room so Kate can go try them out and to be honest, she's kind of excited to see what she can do with her chair. She knows Castle will be jealous and will have to let him try it out at least once.

Coming back from the therapy room, Castle lifts Kate out of the temporary chair and into the bed. It's almost midnight, and the couple is exhausted. Climbing in next to her, Castle plays with her hair as they fall asleep. It's been one of the longest days of their lives and sleep, and a bed feels amazing.

As he falls, asleep Castle can only think about what will happen in the next few days. He knows tomorrow Kate will have to get a shower. He can only hope it will be easy as he knows he can shower with her. They shower together all the time, so this is no biggie. Besides having to get a wheelchair and a few other assistive needs, Castle is not sure that Kate will be able to live in the apartment they have now. It's a nice size, its just the doors may not be wide enough, and he's not sure how Kate will be able to get up and down the stairs. He wants to try and make the house as accessible as possible so Kate can move around and care for the kids as needed. It will be a struggle, but Castle has faith they can make it through all this.


	3. Chapter 2

A few weeks have flown by, and Kate is finally able to go home. Her power chair finally arrived, and after more testing just to make sure, her initial diagnosis has stuck. She's paralyzed at the C5 vertebrae. They've told the kids about Kate and honestly they are pretty excited. The little Lets more than the older Lets, but I think because they know they can possibly get a ride on mom's lap because they are small enough.

Pulling up the new custom van to the sidewalk, Castle takes the bags of things the nurse had wheeled down and throws it into the car. He then flips the ramp down with the button and watches Kate maneuver her chair into the van. When she gets in and situated, he hops in and tethers her down securely so she won't go anywhere. They thank the nurses and close the door to head for home.

"How does it feel to get finally to go home?" Castle asks, looking back in the rearview mirror.

"It's great, no more noises, finally some quiet, I mean I know our house won't be quiet with the Lets, but it will be a different noise than all the moaning people, or the machine beeps." She chuckles softly turning her head to look out of the window. It felt great getting out of that lock up.

"Have you talked with the realtor?" Kate asks moments later as she looks back to the front towards Castle.

"I did, they want to add a few more things to the listing of the loft, but I told her to email me, and I would get back to her," Castle says, pulling up to a red light. Their plan to sell the loft was a big one. It killed the adults to have to sell a house with so many memories built in.

"But I think I'm going to tell her to cancel," He says, pulling out from the red light.

"Why?" Kate asks him.

"Well, you know how Alexis and Aaron are having their first kid; the loft is paid off, so I was thinking of giving it to her as a gift. They live in that crappy apartment, and I can't seem to let go of the loft." He sighs, wondering and waiting to see what Kate's answer will be.

"That's actually not a bad idea. I know we both never really wanted to give the place up, and I know she'd love to live there." Kate smiles softly.

"What about our house, though, how's that going?" She asks hoping that their place will be finished soon.

"It's going great actually; I can't wait for you to see it." Castle smiles awkwardly not wanting to give up his surprise. He'd had the place finished and moved in and was going to take her there now. To home, to their home. Castle had found an abandoned warehouse and had bought it to turn into a home. It had plenty of space on the bottom three floors that they could expand Black Pawn and live in the top two floors. An elevator had been installed so Kate could easily get up and down the floors to help with her kids if needed. They also left the stairs for the able bodied people so her kids would not rely on the elevator and start making unhealthy choices. Brock was already a little overweight and Kate wanted to try and curve that.

Having noticed that Castle had driven past the loft made Kate more and more curious as to what was going on. She had a thought but was going to let Castle surprise her with whatever he had planned. She did not want to spoil whatever he had going.

Soon, they pull up to the new place, and Castle turns to Kate as he kills the car. The look on her face is a puzzled one as she looks around to see what's going on.

"I thought the place was not done yet?" She says, raising an eyebrow.

"I had paid for a few more workers, had them get it done." Castle smiles getting out of his seat to help Kate. They open the door, and he untethers her so she can go down the ramp and towards the house. There's a side entrance that leads to the house from the parking garage, so they don't have to go through the lobby of Black Pawn to get home. It gave the family more privacy from fans and just the general public.

Walking in front of Kate, Castle shows her the way to the house through the side door and up the elevator. They make it to the front door, and Castle stands by it waiting for Kate to come so he can open it and surprise her.

"Ready?" He asks giddy as a small child on Christmas morning.

"Oh, so ready." Kate smiles watching as Castle opens the front door and walks inside letting Kate through the door. She lets out a gasp as she rolls in the doorway and the living room. It's an open floor plan so Kate can get around easily. It's been designed as modern industrial. Castle liked the look of some of the brick warehouse walls and wanted to keep that theme going around.

"What do you think?" Castle asks standing next to Kate.

"I'm speechless. It's amazing Castle." She smiles taking everything in that she can. There's so many cool things she's not sure where to look.

"Oh good. I was almost worried you wouldn't like the bare walls." He sighs shifting as he hears noises upstairs.

"It reminds me of my old apartment I love it." She sighs hearing the same noises Castle had been hearing.

"I think we have rats." Castle chuckles as all six kids come running down the stairs with Aaron and Alexis following them.

"Mommy!" Edgar smiles and is first to run over and give his mother a hug. The others are right after to help with the group hug.

"Hi, buddy." Kate smiles softly giving her son a kiss on the head, moving on to give the rest of her kids kisses.

"I tried to have them wait a little longer, but I had to pee so I told them they could go see you." Alexis smiles as she rests a hand on her growing belly.

"Well, go, we are fine without you." Castle motions to Alexis to use the bathroom. She leaves and Kate is still having little conversations with her kids. She's asking them what they did while she was gone and how they like the new house. Kinley has her own room with Finnley and Brock sharing one along with the little Lets having their own room with pretty cool built in bunk beds. There's a spare bedroom, an office for Castle plus the master bedroom with en suite bathroom with a walk in bathtub to make bathing easier for Kate and Castle. There's a shower she can sit in but it's nice to have a bathtub Kate can sit and relax in.

"Hungry Momma," Rook grumbles as he uses his prosthetic arm to play with his mother's hair.

"Ok, let's see what we have to make for dinner, daddy can help us cook ok? Sound good?" She asks as Rook nods. Using her joystick, Kate directs her chair from her spot to towards the kitchen. The family follows her as she stops by the fridge and opens it. She's thrilled because the kitchen had been designed with lower countertops so she could cook things by herself.

"What do you want Rook?" Kate asks as she pulls the rope to open the bottom freezer. He spies the dinosaur chicken nuggets and demands that they have them for dinner. Castle agrees and helps Kate pull the box out of the freezer. Castle puts the nuggets on a tray, and they put them in the oven to cook.

"Ok, let's go wash our hands and set the table," Castle says, escorting his kids to the bathroom. Everyone washes up and as they finish he asks Brock and Tanner to help set the table. They do as asked and soon after the family gets to sit down for a family meal. It's a great meal because most of the family is there and they just have a good time telling stories and jokes. Just what they needed to make for a great end to the day. As they sit at the table, Castle stands and goes to stand next to Kate, putting his hand on her back.

"Alexis, Aaron, we have a gift for you." He starts, smiling brightly, quite excited to give them their gift.

"Oh, you do, do you." Aaron smiles, reaching over to take his wife's hand as he smiles at her.

"Yeah, we do," He says

"Since having this nice place here we were going to sell the loft, but after some talk with Kate and is both agreeing that we were not ready to get rid of the memories, we decided that we should give the loft to someone special." Castle continues.

"Is that someone special us?" Alexis asks looking at her father and stepmother with big eyes.

"Yes."

"You really want us to live there?" Aaron asks.

"Yeah, I want my grandchild to grow up in a nice place, it's a lot better than the dump you are living at now," He says as Kate looks back at him sternly.

"Castle!" She blurts as she slaps him with her fist.

"That was not a dump; it was a rather nice place." Kate sighs softly.

"No really mom, it is a dump, and the loft is a serious upgrade. We can't thank you enough." Aaron beams as he stands and goes to hug Kate and give Castle a handshake. They all exchange smiles before he sits back down and finishes his dinner.

Alexis and Aaron leave soon after and the family cleans up from dinner. Castle then helps the kids change, and they all come back down to watch a movie before going to bed. Castle had just bought "Inside Out" on the Apple TV, so they watch that before heading up to bed. Kate takes the elevator and rolls down the hall to each of her kids' rooms to tuck them in and give them kisses. The older Lets don't get a story, but the little Lets had requested one to be read tonight and Kate was not against that. She loved reading to her kids. It made her feel connected.

By the end of the book, Rook and Edgar had fallen asleep with Tanner close behind. Castle and Kate leave and head down the hall to their bedroom. He helps her to the bedroom and then helps her undress before helping her into the sit-down tub. He joins her shortly and starts to fill it up. It had been weeks since the two had had a bath together and Castle couldn't wait to try out the new bathtub. It worked great. Not only could he help Kate wash up, he could get close with her again and just spend some time cuddling in the tub. He'd hated the sponge baths he helped give in the hospital as he knew she was never really clean and would feel uncomfortable. When they finish a while later, Castle helps Kate out and to the bench in the bathroom. He'd had it installed so he could set her down while he got a towel or clothes for her. It helps because its slatted and water can just drip off her and down a drain. He had thought about installing a lift, but Castle decided to wait and see if it was something she actually needed.

Once they get dry and dressed for bed, Castle lifts up Kate and takes her to the bed. She's missed her bed and when he placed her in it, she knew, she knew she was home. No more hospital beds, no more moaning and uncomfortable sounds of the hospital. Just peace and quiet of home.

"Welcome home Kate." Castle smiles as he kisses his wife. She tries to reply to him but is out before she can even say welcome.


	4. Chapter 3

"Woah, Woah! Naked five-year-old in the living room!" Kate gasps, as she hears footsteps and turns her wheelchair around.

"Daddy told me to come get you for help," Rook exclaims as he stands in front of his mother.

"He did? Are you sure that he did not tell you to wait till he was done?" She asks him as he shakes his head.

"Ok, ok, let's go, walk with mommy," She says, grabbing the joystick and starting up her chair. Rook follows and joins his mother in the elevator. They make it to his room finally, and Kate finds Castle helping Edgar tie his shoes.

"Rook! Daddy told you to wait, and I would help you. Go show mommy the clothes you want and she can help. I will get your arm." Castle sighs as he walks over towards the nightstand next to his bed. Every few nights they take his arm off and let his body have a little break. It can be a lot of work, and they want it to rest a bit. Grabbing it, he walks over to Kate and Rook so he can put it on. He situates his son as he helps his shoulder into the arm and straps it on.

"Is it too tight buddy?" Castle asks as he watches his son try and adjust it. He nods and Castle helps him and gets it all finally situated.

"Ok, let's go get breakfast, we don't want to be late for school." Castle smiles escorting Edgar and Rook out of their bedroom. He sends them downstairs as the adults go and check on the older Lets. Kinley was up and been getting ready in the bathroom. The boys though was another story. Finn had been awake but reading a book while Brock snoozed.

"Brock, time to get up!" Kate says, shaking him slightly. He does not move.

"Brock! You need to get up!" Kate tries again. He does not wake right away, so Kate reaches for the spray bottle. She douses him slightly, and seconds later he is awake.

"More sleep." He groans.

"No, up please, we need to get to school, no waffles if you don't get up now!"

Hearing his mother say waffles made him jolt up. He jumps out of bed and heads for his closet to change. Kate thanks him and leaves with Castle heading down the elevator and to the kitchen. Pulling out the box of freezer waffles, Kate starts four of them in the toaster so they can cook.

—

The family has finally made it out of the door to school. There had been some issues but nothing they couldn't fix. Helping tether Kate down, he pulls the last restraint before pressing the ramp and door button so they close, and he can pull away. They would drop the kids of at school and then head to the store to do some shopping. They also had to hit the pharmacy to pick up a few of Kate's meds.

Pulling up to the front of the school, the door to the van slides open and Kate gives kisses to the kids before letting them out and sending them to school.

"By kiddos! See you later!" Kate smiles, waving to her kids as they ran off to their classes.

Pulling from the front of the school, Castle turns off his flashers and heads towards Morton Williams, a local grocery store they like to attend that's near their home. They liked it before the accident but even now it was nice because Kate could easily move around the aisles in her chair.

Pulling into the handicap spot, Castle kills the car and presses the ramp button. The ramp eases out, and Castle untethers his wife's chair so she can navigate out of the car and towards the store. Castle locks the car and the two head into the store. Getting a shopping cart, Castle follows his wife around the store.

"Can you remember what we need?" Castle asks her as he leans on the shopping cart that was sitting next to Kate as he listened to her.

"I need my diapers. Also, some eggs would be nice." She says, using her fist to push hair out of her face.

"Oh, and don't we need cheese? I know Tanner has been bugging us to make grilled cheese, but we've been out." He adds, looking over at his wife.

"Oh yeah, he's been begging us, I'd forgotten about that." Kate chuckles, trying to push her hair out of her face again. She'd been having problems all day with trying to keep her hair up. She could brush it no problem, but putting it in a hair tie was hard for her.

"Castle? Can you get a hair tie for me and help me with my hair?" She asks.

"Mhmm… Sure." Castle hums, rummaging through Kate's bag and finding her little makeup bag and pulling out a hair tie and trying to put Kate's hair up. He tries not to pull to hard as he pulls the hair and gets it tied up. She thanks him and they move on to start filling their cart with groceries.

They get a large package of Kate's diapers and white they are in that section they pick up a package of the smaller packages of diaper wipes. They like the smaller packages because it's nice to have them all around the house and a pack in the car and even a pack in Kate's wheelchair bag. Next, they continue through the store, grabbing everything they can think of that they need at home. They also pick up another few sips cups for Rook because the ones he has are starting to get dirty, and the nipples are starting to go bad. They have found the perfect cup for him that makes it easy enough that he can hold it with his prosthetic arm.

Once done, they head for the checkout and start putting things on the belt. Kate helps with what she can before rolling up to get out of Castle's way so he can pay. Sliding his card, Kate moves up a little farther so the cart can be pushed up and loaded. The two finish and head out to the car. Castle loads the groceries first, then he puts the cart away, before helping Kate into the car. He gets her hooked down, and moments later they head off.

They get home a while later, and Kate holds a few bags on her chair so Castle can carry the rest and make it inside in one trip. They put everything away and decide to take a quick nap. Before the nap, though, Castle writes down a few ideas, so he does not lose the, in his sleep. Helping Kate, he lifts her onto the bed and snuggles next to her. They set an alarm, so the couple does not forget about the kids and they can pick them up in time.

Hearing him snore a while later, Kate can't help but laugh. She knows he's got to be tired from having to lift her up multiple times a day and no to mention getting up early to help with the kids. She feels bad and wants to figure out how to make it up to him. She wants to take him to dinner but getting a sitter would be near impossible, with no one wanting to watch six kids at once. She'd get Alexis and Aaron but she's not been feeling well lately in her pregnancy and with Kate knowing just exactly how she felt, she was not ready to put her through that. Although, she knows that Aaron would do most of the work and make Alexis sit and watch a movie with the kids. That was not a bad idea.

It was hard, though, trying to figure out what to do. Half asleep, she texted Alexis and asked her what she thought about watching the kids and moments later came a yes from her and Aaron. Now she just had to figure out a good night for this to work. Alexis had suggested tonight, but that was just too early for Kate. She wanted to look pretty for Castle, and she knew, that this little time would not be enough.

"Howboutfridaynight," Kate replies in her text. She should have used Siri to text back, but she did not want to wake sleeping Castle, so she attempted to text with one hand and ended up getting the message out, but without spaces. No big, she figured Alexis would be able to figure it out.

Their alarm goes off about 20 minutes later, and Castle lets out a groan as he sits up and looks over at his wife. She'd fallen back asleep and watching her beautiful sleeping self, made him feel in awe of his life. Yes, they had their struggles, he had almost lost her, but as of right now, things had been going great. No worries, nothing. Just a perfect content life.

Getting out of bed, he goes and wakes his wife. He then lifts her into her chair, and they head to the door and out of the house to pick the kids up from school. The couple gets stuck in traffic on the way there, and it pisses Castle off, but he has cooled down by the time they reach the school. The kids pile into the van as Kate is asking them how school went.

"We have to do a science project." Brock starts.

"So Brock and I teamed up to do one on us, on triplets," Finn adds sitting in his seat as his father begins to pull out from the front of the school.

"Oh, how cool is that!" Castle beams looking in the mirror to see his kids in the back.

"If you have any questions, you just ask dad and I, we will help you."

"I know what its like to be pregnant with triplets." She reminds him as he rolls his eyes playfully.

"Hey, I saw that!" She warns as Finn gives a look of shock as to how she saw his eye roll.

"I'm a mom; we see everything." She chuckles.

"Mom's right," Castle adds.

"She can see a lot of things."

"And I mean it too, I get in trouble all the time from her," He recalls sighing softly as they near he house. He parks and the kids get out, and everyone heads up to the house. Homework is started on, and Castle tries to figure out what to make from some of the groceries they had just picked up from the store. He decides on a chicken bake and starts marinating the chicken so he can cook it in the oven for dinner.

Homework is finished about an hour later, and Castle had finished cooking the chicken. He gets help from the kids to set the table, and the family sits down for a meal. While eating, they discuss their days and Kate tells Castle about their date night and tells the kids that Alexis and Aaron will be coming over to babysit. They are thrilled because all of the kids love how fun Aaron is. Castle loves him too because he knows he does not have to worry about having a bad babysitter for the kids.

They finish dinner a while later and decide on a family game night of playing Sorry, They team up and after playing a pretty long round, Kate and her team of Kinley, Rook and Tanner end up winning. Even with her handicapped team, she was still able to win. Castle though and his team was mad and accused them of cheating. Kate had retorted back that he was just a sore looser. To which they kept fighting all night. Even during putting the kids to bed and the finally getting themselves to bed.

"Oh, come on. We won fair and square, how about we rematch tomorrow night, the winner gets bragging rights and gets to pick movie and dinner the next night." Kate spoke, watching and waiting for an answer.

"Ok, fine. We will rematch, now let's go to bed I'm exhausted." Castle replies as he yawns and lays back on the bed.

Nodding, Kate does the same, and they both fall asleep a while later. Kate can't wait to rematch Castle tomorrow. She thought about letting him win so he would shut up but then again, he'd be upset that she let him win, and she was not ready for that. She'd do whatever it took though to make the win fair.

A/N: I wonder who will win? LOL. I have not a clue. I feel like though, that if Castle and his team won, he'd throw a huge celebration party, and brag about it for weeks.


	5. Chapter 4

There's a still quiet air that fills the room after the kids leave for school. It's nice being home having nothing to do. Just relaxing with not a care in the world. Kate had called Alexis to come over early and help her pick out what she was going to wear for her date night. Kate had a few dresses but wanted Alexis' help picking out which one she would wear. She wanted to surprise Castle, so she told him he could have a few hours of writing time before going out so that Kate and Alexis could have their time.

Steering her wheelchair out of the living room she makes her way to Castle's office knocking on the door jam before she rolls in. He looks up from his laptop, reading glasses perched on his face, his salt and pepper hair falling into his eyes, as he smiled.

"Hi," She blushes feeling his bright smile hit her face. That was one reason why, she loved him. He had the best smiles.

"I need your help in the bathroom," She tells him as she rolls closer to him.

"Sure, anything for my queen." Castle beams again as he gets up and gets ready to follow his wife out of the office.

"I'd have you sit on my lap and give you a ride, but I've really got to go." She sighs as she crosses over the door jam of his office.

"Oh, well, let's go then!"

"It's not often you really have to go like that!" Castle adds, following his wife to the bathroom. Getting inside, he closes the door behind him in case one of the kids had come home early from school, or maybe Alexis had decided to come early.

Lifting her up he rests her head on his shoulder and asks her to take her arms and put them around him and hold on tight. He's having a hard time breathing, but he only needs to get her pants down and then her underwear. It was then he realized they had forgotten to put on a diaper.

"Shit," He tells himself. When someone is paralyzed like Kate they usually need help making their body go poop and pee, it's rare for Kate to say she has to pee really bad. Usually, they put a diaper on just in case. Castle had forgotten this morning which meant he had to be quick because she had no protection.

Once her pants and underwear are down, he scoots her back and sets her on the toilet seat. She lets out a weird noise before Castle can tell she's going to the bathroom. He felt kind of silly sitting with her and watching because he felt like he was back helping one of his kids learn to use the potty. He pushes the thought away as he asks her if she's done but it comes back, and he tries not to laugh.

"I am actually," Kate replies.

"I would like a diaper, though, if you can get one." She tells him as he nods and tells her to hold on to the grab bars by the toilet. She does so as he leaves to upstairs and get a diaper. He grabs a few so he can leave some down in the cupboard there.

"Ok, wipe and I'll help you put this on. It will be hard without you laying down, but I will do it." He says, watching her clean up and reach back to flush the toilet. Pulling her pants off her, he then pulls on the underwear and sets them both aside. Lifting her up, he asks Kate to hold on again like before. He'd already fed her legs in the holes so now he just had to pull the diaper up. He gets it situated and pulls her back so she can sit in her chair. He then feeds her legs into her pants and does the same maneuver as before, lifting her pants up and buckling them up. Once done, he slips her back into her chair so they can wash their hands. They finish up just in time. Alexis had just come to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" Kate yells as she dries her hands off and guides her chair out of the bathroom and to the front door. She unlocks it and pulls it open as she smiles at the woman in front of her. Castle joined them soon after. Letting her in, Kate smiles at her step-daughter.

"Wow, Alexis. You have grown since the last time I saw you." Kate chuckles softly as she leans out the best she can to hug Alexis.

"I know, baby is growing like a weed." She chuckles softly as she looks up to see her father.

"Hi, daughter!" He grins as he moves closer to hug her. He kisses her head and pulls away so he can rest a hand on her stomach.

"Hello little one, Grandpa is here!" He smiles again as he gives her a once over.

"Kate is right, how far along are you anyways?" He asks letting her more into the house as he heads towards the couch.

"20 weeks yesterday," She tells her father.

"Already?!" Castle gasps shocked at what his daughter had just told him.

"Yeah, I know, pretty soon baby will be here, adding yet another member to the Castle family." She chuckles softly.

"It's crazy, to think that my eldest daughter is having a baby." Castle sighs happily ditching the couch and heading towards his office.

"I'm going to let you guys be; I'm almost done with another chapter." He smiles and ducks into his office. Kate takes Alexis and the two head for the elevator. They take it up and Kate rolls out as she rolls down the hallway towards her room. She makes it inside and heads towards the closet.

"I've got a few dresses, but I'm going to let you pick," She says pointing to the five dresses Kate had hanging in her closet. She still had the red dress Castle had sent her for the very first undercover job they had done as a team. Alexis pulls out a few other dresses before finally finding that one and knowing it was the one she had to wear.

"This one, I remember how beautiful it was on you. I remember looking up to you and in so much amazement at how beautiful you turned out. Dad will go googly eyes all over again for you." Alexis smiles brightly as she lays it on the bed.

Helping move to the vanity, Alexis starts on Kate's hair. She figured it would be easier for her to work on it if she did not have the back of her wheelchair to get in the way. She brushes it before then curling it and putting some of it up very pretty. Kate's hair looked gorgeous. It fell and bounced just right she knew Castle would love it.

Once done with her hair, Alexis starts on her makeup. She knew Kate was pretty good at doing her makeup, but Alexis had volunteered to do it all, so she tells her not to do it. She knows Kate does not like gobs of makeup on so she does it to fit the dress and a little light. Nothing major heavy.

After she was done with Kate's makeup, she could tell Aaron, and the kids had arrived home from school. The house had been quiet but once the kids walked in the front door the house erupted in noise. They were glad to have the kids home but also glad for the little bit of quiet time.

"I'm going to go check on the kids, you stay here mom, and I'll be back. I also want to tell dad that he can go get ready too," Alexis says as she rests a hand on her stomach and heads down the stairs.

She greets her siblings before going to find her father and tell him he can go get ready. She would go back up stairs and get his tux for him so he could get dressed in the kid's bathroom away from Kate and her surprise.

The two finish getting dressed and Castle is downstairs waiting for Alexis and Kate to make their way down the stairs. Alexis zips up the last bit of Kate's dress and then helps her into her chair. The elevator dings and the two get in and ride it down the one floor to get out. Alexis gets out first and stands in front of Kate to hide her from Castle.

"Everyone, I present to you Kate, Castle." Alexis smiles as she steps aside to show off Kate. Castle lets out a gasp as he sees his wife in the red dress. He was taken aback and pretty speechless as he looks her up and down. The dress she has on, It still sparkles just like he remembers. It brings him back to the day they went undercover to the Gala and danced the night away.

"I, uh, wow, you look amazing Kate." Castle stammers, smiling as he walks over and gives Kate a kiss.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Kate smiles as she puts her fist out and tries to hold Castle's hand. He takes her fist and walks with her towards the door. They say their goodbyes and leave moments later. They get to the car, and Kate pushes the ramp button before she rolls backwards and out of the way of the ramp, so it does not hit her. When its out she rolls up, it and Castle hooks her in.

He's still amazed. It had been a while since she'd dressed up like this and he loved it. She was so beautiful he could not keep his eyes off her. Tethering her down, Castle gets in the driver's seat and heads off to the Italian place they had wanted to go to for a while. Kate might have been a little overdressed for the night but the couple did not care.

They arrive a while later and, Castle helps her out of the car, and they head into the restaurant. Going up to the desk he checks in for his reservation. The woman told them it would be a second as they needed to do a last minute shuffle so they could have a seat at a table for Kate.

Calling them back, their waiter seats them and Castle is knee deep in the menu. There's so many good things he just can't decide. He finds the pasta section and decides to order some kind of chicken and spaghetti dish. Looking over at Kate smiling he's wondering what she's going to get.

"I just want spaghetti or pasta but in small pieces. So I can eat it with a spoon." She tells him as the waiter comes over. They put in their orders, making sure everything was set for Kate before he leaves. Their wine has come, and Kate is trying to sip from it carefully.

"I love you." Castle hums as he stares at his wife while she sips her wine. She blushes slightly looking up and into her husband's eyes.

"I love you too."

The next few moments between them are in silence as Castle takes Kate's fist and holds it. Breaking the silence, Castle looks up and smiles at his wife.

"It's nice being alone as adults." Castle chuckles softly.

"Yes, you are right about that one." Kate smiles softly.

"You look beautiful."

"Really? You think that?"

"Yes, always."

"Well, thanks."

Food is served, and Kate is struggling to eat. She was not ready to pull out the bib but when she missed she looked up at Castle with heartbreak in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, I will help you, please do not cry," Castle pleads, rushing up and over to pull his wife into a hug. He's trying to soothe her as she cries softly. Taking her spoon, he grabs some noodles and spoons some of it into her mouth.

"I'm done; I will help you ok? We will take it slow." He smiles softly and goes for another spoonful.

Carefully for the next few minutes, Castle helps Kate get in some of her food. She tells him she's done, and he works on cleaning her face. Then cleans up her plate and makes sure everything is situated. People are staring, but Castle just ignores them. He's gotten used to the looks because when they take the Lets out people are always asking questions and watching them with their kids.

They pay soon after and Castle takes Kate out for a walk. He knows they both need some time to cool off before going home. There's enough street and little shops that they can just stroll and talk.

"I'm sorry." Kate sighs looking up at Castle as she rolls forward.

"Hey, It's ok, I don't mind, It's what I'm here for, I'm your husband, I help you."

The rest of the walk is rather quiet. Kate is still upset that she had to get help from Castle and Castle just wants to give Kate some space. He knows she's upset and does not want to make her feel any worse by saying something wrong.

They get home about an hour later, and the kids have fallen asleep in front of a movie. Alexis has Rook on her lap as she too is asleep while Aaron is half asleep. They get the kids to bed, and Castle allows Aaron and Alexis to take the guest room for the night, so they don't have to drive home tired.

By ten PM everyone in the house is sound asleep. Thankfully.

A/N: I can't wait! Guests will be joining the family the next chapter. Take a guess at who you think it could be. I'll give you a hint. They have kids and like hockey.


	6. Chapter 5

Having to pack for a family of 8 for three days is a nightmare. The kids all need things and not to mention all the supplies Kate needs. It will be slightly easier this time because the family is driving the four hours instead of flying. If they were flying it would be insane. The family had some friends living in DC and over break they had planned to travel down there and go to a Flyers game. The kids had never been to a hockey game, and the all the boys couldn't wait.

Kate had met this couple a few years back at a forensics conference, and they hit it off pretty quickly. They talk on the phone all the time but haven't seen each other in a while. Kate is excited because they get to have a little adventure outside of New York.

Getting everyone in the car, Castle hits the road, and the family is finally heading to DC. It will take them about four hours but with the plethora of music and car games, they have it shouldn't take long. The drive consists of dance parties, ABC games, and plenty of "Are we there yet's". Having to stop so the kids and Kate can go to the bathroom adds about 20 minutes onto the trip, but it's a welcome break for everyone to stretch their feet and walk around a bit. They only have an hour left on the drive, but when you have two five-year-olds and your wife screaming that they all have to pee, then you have to stop and go pee.

Getting back on the road, the family arrives in DC a while later. Pulling over, Castle puts the address in the GPS, and it calculates the best route. A few miles and a decent length driveway later, they pull up to the house. It's smaller one story house. It has lots of windows, and the surrounding area is beautiful.

Killing the car, Castle honks twice and see's the couple swing the front door open, and the two older kids (Christine and Hank) come running out, while Seeley comes next, Bones joining them with Sean their youngest on her hip.

"Hey! Richard!" Seeley smiles walking over and giving Castle a handshake and bro-hug before letting him hop into the van and untether Kate. The kids had run off and headed to go play with Christine and Hank's toys as Kate rolls out of the van. She sees's Bones and lets out a big smile. She's so happy to be out of the car and finally at her friends house.

"I can't believe its been this long!" Kate exclaims, using her joystick and zooming over to reach her arms out and give Bones a hug.

"Hey, there Sean, you are getting so big!" Kate giggles softly as she pinches his cheeks. He smiles brightly showing the four teeth he had with a small giggle.

"Can you say hi to Aunt Kate?" Bones asks waving the little boys hand as she bounces him on her hip.

The kids had been long gone by now when Castle closes the van door and follows Seeley inside. The whole time they had been talking about sports, while Kate and Bones caught up from when the last time they had talked on FaceTime.

"Ok, we are finally here, next time you have to come to New York, you will love it! Castle gives the best tours of the city!" Kate chuckles as she rolls along with Bones and they head towards the house.

"It's been a while, next time the Flyers play the Rangers, we will make the trip, I've got tons of time on the books so it would be awesome." Bones smiles, kissing Sean on the head. He wants to be let down, but none of the baby gates are up at the moment from the older kids having moved them, so Kate volunteers to take him for a ride.

"C'mere Sean, I'll take you for a ride." Kate smiles and reaches out and holds him in her lap. Zooming around the living room, Kate holds onto him tight has he smiles and giggles. Needing to sit down Bones plops on the couch watching Kate and Sean interact. Moments later Hank comes running out with Rook. They'd collided while playing and knocked Rook's arm out of place.

"Momma," Hank pauses as he runs up to Bones.

"What Hank? What happened?" She asks him as Rook comes slowly behind him.

"Ow mommy." Rook cries itching to take his shirt off and get out of his arm.

"Rook and I, we went boom!" Hank explains, clapping his hands together to show how they collided.

"Oh baby, are you ok?" Kate asks, worried as she tries to take his shirt off. She's struggling with the use of her one hand and the fist, so, after quickly getting some children's Aspirin, Bones comes over and helps Kate and Rook get his arm off.

"Here's an Aspirin for you Hank, take this it will make you feel better." Bones explains as she hands him a sippy cup of water.

"What about you Rook? Can you have one of these?" Bones asks looking over at Kate.

"Honestly, I've never tried, the doctor never told me it interacts with any of his meds, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"Alright then, I'll put them back, I don't want to make a trip to the ER," She says, kissing Hank and reaching to take Sean and set him on her hip. Castle and Seeley had still been talking, but when some of the kids came out thirsty, they spent the next five minutes dishing out drinks.

"Ok, juice for Brock, water for Kinley, another water for Edgar, and one last juice for Miss. Christine!" Booth smiles, handing each kid the respective cup for their age.

"Please be careful Christine, mommy will kill us both if you spill."

"Ah, so Temperance is that way too?" Castle chuckles softly.

"Well sometimes yes, but more so when we have guests," Seeley explains kissing Christine before she runs off.

"Kate used to be, but then the second set of triplets came, and she got way more lenient. It's kinda nice." Castle sighs happily as he watches the kids run off.

"It must be crazy around your house with the six kids." Seeley speaks as he turns to see Kate, Bones and Sean come towards the kitchen.

"Oh, tell me about it, it can be really crazy, there's at least one naked kid running around in the morning." Castle replies.

"Yeah, He's right, crazy naked kids." Kate laughs thinking back to the recent time Rook was naked.

"Hey, are you guys hungry or anything?" Bones asks looking from Kate to Castle.

"I am a little, but nothing a handful of goldfish can't handle," Castle says, reaching for the bag on Kate's chair. They keep a stash of them in her bag just in case one of the kids complains that they are hungry.

"You must keep everything with you!" Seeley chuckles as Castle tosses back a handful of goldfish.

"Yeah, with six kids we come prepared, one of them always wants something," Kate adds using her fist to get the hair out of her face.

"We should take you to the diner for dinner; I think the kids would have a blast," Seeley says, looking up to see two kids come running in and grab pillows from the couch and run off. They had been so quick he had no clue who it was. Shifting, Bones turns to the adults with a quizzical look as they all wonder what that was. Bones starts first, and they all walk to Hank's room.

The kids had gathered almost all the pillows in the house and made a pillow and blanket fort and were having a pillow fight. Bones would have normally stopped this behavior, but since they are with friends, she lets it be. She knows a little fun like that won't hurt anyone. The adults are by the door watching as all eight kids are running around the bedroom laughing. Castle is shocked when he see's Kinley interacting with Christine. He throws a hand over his mouth to keep in his sounds. He does not want to startle her.

"I like you, Christine, you are fun!" Kinley smiles looking up at her new friend she'd never met in person until today.

Looking over at Kate, she looks back at him also shocked. They both step away as not to be heard by the kids and can't believe their ears.

"Did you hear that?" Castle asks as Kate nods.

"Perfect sentence structure, no missing words, not a slur, nothing!" Kate replies.

"What do we do?" Castle asks, worried that if he went to his daughter she'd fall back.

"I don't think we say anything; we leave her to do that," Kate says as Castle nods in agreement.

"How long do you think this has been going on?"

"I have not a clue, The last time I heard her speak, was the day you went into labor," Castle says, shifting to see Seeley and Bones walk over.

"Whats going on?" Bones asks the couple, wondering why they had been so quiet.

"Kinley, you know, the one I asked you questions about, it's been about six years since we have heard her talk last." Kate starts.

"Castle and I just saw her talking to Christine in there," She adds. All the parents are shocked now. Bones had remembered the time when Kate called her asking questions about kids not talking and what she thought about it. Bones decides that later she will ask Christine about it but pressure her in any way to have her tell things she's not ready to talk about.

A few hours later the fort has been cleaned up, and the families head to dinner at the diner. Its a small place but there's room in the back that they can put a few tables together and have a nice meal. It was crazy being out as a whole. They had met at the conference, and both had been so busy they just couldn't meet again until now. They had one thing on the agenda. Tomorrow night all 13 of them would travel to Wells Fargo Center to see the Flyers play. They thought about just driving down the day of and driving back after the game, but the parents knew it would exhaust them all and Kate was not ready to deal with cranky kids.

Dinner is served, and Castle chews on his sandwich as he helps Kate to hers. It was nice having friends that did not care about Kate's disability and let them do what they needed to get by.

"Hank, use a napkin please," Seeley says, handing his son a napkin so he can clean his face. The boy had cheese from his mac 'n cheese all over his face.

The 13 continue with dinner and talking before cleaning up and getting ready to head home an hour later. Castle had pleaded with them that they would get a hotel room and stay there, but both Seeley and Bones told them no. The kids could all sleep in one room like a sleepover, while Kate and Castle got the bed in the master bedroom, with Seeley and Bones taking the bed in the pull out couch.

"Ok, time for bed, everyone go get in your jammies please, we have a busy day tomorrow," Kate says as she ushers her kids to the bedroom and makes sure they start getting dressed. Rook needs some help, so Kate calls in Castle to help him change.

It takes the kids a while to fall asleep while the adults chat but after a while the giggling has stopped, and the adults know they are asleep. It's been a long day, and it was great to have the kids asleep and the adults hanging out and drinking some wine.

"I can't believe we survived the day." Castle yawned as he fell back on the couch.

"Honestly, don't know how you do it, we struggle with three," Bones says, looking from Kate to Booth.

"Yeah, she's right, we do struggle," Seeley says.

"It's worth it, though."

"So, worth it."

A/N: OMG This was so exciting to write I had a hard time because I was so excited that the words came too fast, and I stumbled a lot. Plus the fact that autocorrect wanted to change Seeley to Shelley the whole time! Also, been meaning to mention. Follow me on twitter MommaKateCastle. That is where I post updates and ask questions and get opinions about my fics. It's also a half role-play account with my other FF "And Baby Makes 7". I do many things on that twitter. So to keep updated, feel free to follow!


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